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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday April 22 2017, @10:37AM   Printer-friendly
from the in-utero-fertilization-often-involves-diamonds-too dept.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/04/diamond-dishes-could-boost-ivf-success-rates

For women looking to become pregnant through in vitro fertilization (IVF), a diamond petri dish could be a girl's best friend. That's one conclusion from a new study, which finds that human sperm cells live longer and move more efficiently on diamond surfaces compared with traditional polystyrene petri dishes. The researchers also discovered that shining a red light on the sperm cells improved their performance. Combining these techniques might significantly increase the chances of IVF success.

During IVF procedures, sperm is introduced to an egg in a petri dish. If the egg is successfully fertilized, the resulting zygote is implanted into the woman's uterus. The critical fertilization stage usually takes place on polystyrene, a plastic from which almost all petri dishes are made. Sperm, like most cells, exude harmful, cell-disrupting molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Inside the body, these ROS last only fractions of a second and are quickly neutralized as they bind with nearby molecules. But polystyrene naturally forms a thin, gluelike nano-layer of water on its surface, which traps the ROS.

"The sperm is stewing in its own ROS," says Andrei Sommer, a physicist who led the study while working at Ulm University in Germany and who is currently working as an independent scientist. "This longer exposure is highly, highly, highly destructive to the cell."

Genesis on diamonds II: contact with diamond enhances human sperm performance by 300% (open, DOI: 10.21037/atm.2016.08.18) (DX)


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  • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:48PM (7 children)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Saturday April 22 2017, @12:48PM (#497891) Journal

    Diamond? Geez -- years ago, having the gold "plastic" was enough to impress the ladies. Then came platinum. Now everybody wants diamond or sapphire...

    In all seriousness, TFA doesn't really explain why diamond is necessary. All it says is: "Sommer and colleagues wondered whether keeping sperm cells on a material like diamond, which forms a slick, not sticky, surface layer of water, would protect them from ROS."

    But surely there are other cheaper surfaces that form a "slick" surface rather than the "sticky" layer of plastic. Like, I don't know -- what Petri dishes used to be made of: glass? Or some sort of ceramic? Why DIAMOND?

    Well, TFA says:

    Of course, diamond dishes are a lot more expensive than plastic ones. It costs about $100 to make a diamond-coated petri dish like the one used in the study—compared with polystyrene dishes that cost mere pennies—but Sommer says the expense isn’t unreasonable given that IVF procedures routinely cost $10,000 or more.

    Oh, if they're gonna pay a lot anyway, might as well fleece them for as much as possible? They won't notice a measly extra $100 (probably marked up to $300 on the bill) when they're paying so much...

    But again, in all seriousness, TFA doesn't explain this in more detail. I'm sure diamond has a pretty unique surface, but is there something that could get us 90% of the effect for a more reasonable increase in cost? TFA says they already knew sperm responded better on diamond from previous studies -- so why not test a few other surface options?

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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:06PM (5 children)

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:06PM (#497894) Journal

    1% increase in cost, massive increase in effectiveness.

    Diamond can be created synthetically.

    There is gold in your computing devices. Better hang on to those.

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
    • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:18PM (3 children)

      by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:18PM (#497898) Journal

      Diamond can be created synthetically.

      No offense, but duh. I didn't think they were hiring master jewelers to set individual tiny diamonds on the surface of lab dishes; I assume it is a procedure that treats the dishes somehow.

      Anyhow, are you serious? Look -- if diamond is SO much better than ANYTHING else, then obviously it makes sense for such an expensive procedure.

      But surely it's reasonable to ask the question whether they considered cheaper alternatives (and if not, why not)? Again, diamond has a unique surface, but that's no guarantee that something a lot cheaper might not even perform BETTER.

      I'm asking why TFA doesn't explain why diamond specifically is necessary. I'm not "complaining" about it. Isn't science about actually investigating things? (And, to be honest, the reason I posed the question is because I could definitely imagine a company looking to make money to get a lot of publicity claiming "diamonds" are necessary for good IVF procedures -- and then you get a lot of clients requesting the diamond dishes because they heard they're the "best" on the news, even if it later turns out a simple glass dish would actually be better....)

      There is gold in your computing devices. Better hang on to those.

      Monster will sell you a $250 DIGITAL cable with gold connectors too. Doesn't mean it's necessary (or in that case even useful).

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:40PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:40PM (#497920)

        diamond like coatings - first page hit:
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond-like_carbon [wikipedia.org]

        Diamond-like carbon (DLC) is a class of amorphous carbon material that displays some of the typical properties of diamond. DLC is usually applied as coatings to other materials that could benefit from some of those properties.[1]

        DLC exists in seven different forms.[2] All seven contain significant amounts of sp3 hybridized carbon atoms. The reason that there are different types is that even diamond can be found in two crystalline polytypes. The more common one has its carbon atoms arranged in a cubic lattice, while the less common one, lonsdaleite, has a hexagonal lattice. By mixing these polytypes in various ways at the nanoscale level of structure, DLC coatings can be made that at the same time are amorphous, flexible, and yet purely sp3 bonded "diamond". The hardest, strongest, and slickest is such a mixture, known as tetrahedral amorphous carbon (ta-C).
        ...
        The wear, friction, and electrical properties of DLC make it an appealing material for medical applications. Fortunately, DLC has proved to have excellent bio-compatibility as well.

        Similar coatings are also offered for plastic eye glasses.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:54PM (1 child)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Saturday April 22 2017, @02:54PM (#497927) Journal

        I think that it's some metaphysical thing. I had relations with a number of women who did not get pregnant. I bought a diamond for one woman who failed to get pregnant. I bought a diamond for another woman, and the magic worked that time. I'm not sure if the size or the color of the diamond is important. Maybe the setting is important - the first woman got a gold and platinum setting, the second woman got a gold setting. It's metaphysical though. There has to be a diamond, that much I'm sure of.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:40PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @07:40PM (#498036)

          Did you try turning on a red light during the, uh... introduction?

    • (Score: 2) by butthurt on Saturday April 22 2017, @10:55PM

      by butthurt (6141) on Saturday April 22 2017, @10:55PM (#498100) Journal

      > 1% increase in cost

      That's if they discard the dish. The substrate in this experiment was quartz; that would be autoclavable.

      It seems the experimenters compared "quartz glass coated with nanodiamond and polystyrene"; I wonder why they didn't try uncoated quartz, or borosilicate. "We can't do without any one. Even Epsilons."

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 22 2017, @01:13PM (#497896)

    Sort of sounds like it might be a precursor to a plug for all those companies we are all supposedly starting when we are replaced by robots, don't need to know anything or have any creditability don't even need to have a good idea, just an ability to grift it's the new economy! hurrraahhh!